Not My Throne

I spent 12 years away from Zimbabwe. When I returned, I expected to find a broken country. What I found was worse: a country that had normalised being broken.

This book was born from that three-week visit. It's about the cousin with an American accent who's never left Harare. The 45-minute payment gymnastics to buy groceries. The comfortable families in Borrowdale who can't see past their generators. The brilliant minds we educate for everywhere except at home.

But it's also about the teacher who shows up for $250 a month. The uncle is filling potholes on his street. The quiet revolutionaries who build without permission.

I don't want to be President. I want something harder: to be Zimbabwean in a Zimbabwe worth staying for.

This isn't about waiting for better leaders. It's about becoming better builders. One living wage. One honest business. One banked dollar at a time.

For every Zimbabwean who's tired of workarounds. Who's ready to build systems, not beat them. Who believes tomorrow can be different from today.

The government isn't coming to save us. Good. We don't need saving. We need building.